Crossed Paths
by Sophia Hawkins
Summary: While on vacation, Tintin stumbles upon a plot to kidnap Dr. Benton Quest and his family; and Jonny and Hadji must join forces with the young reporter to save the missing scientist. Chapter 3 is now up.
1. Chapter 1

Crossed Paths

Author's note: Watching through the 90's Adventures of Tintin series, it occurred to me there were a few similarities between Tintin and Jonny Quest, and I decided to do a story that brought both universes together. Hope everybody enjoys, please read and review.

"Well, Snowy," Tintin addressed his dog as the two of them made their way through a very busy and very crowded public square, "It looks like for once we just _might_ get to have a vacation where nothing extraordinary happens to us."

The little white dog barked cheerfully in what seemed to be agreement as his little legs galloped along to stay ahead of his master.

Given the last vacation Tintin had taken had almost ended with a firing squad at dawn, there certainly _was_ something to be said about an uneventful vacation, he could almost get bored, and the idea made him smile. As he made his way past all the people doing business left and right at small sale stands, he kept his hands deep in his pockets just to make sure no passerby who just happened to bump into him decided to relieve him of his wallet. He looked at the vendors selling all kinds of merchandise for the big festival that was going on today and bringing out all kinds of tourists and customers: from souvenirs to clothes to food to handmade crafts, in the midst of it all there was one that didn't seem to quite belong, but nonetheless was a refreshing sight.

"Ah, a newspaper stand," Tintin walked over to the vendor and took some money out of his wallet and said to the man selling newspapers, "One, please."

"A pleasure, sir," the man took his money and gave him a copy of the morning paper.

Just as Tintin began to unfold the paper to see what the story of the day was, he heard two familiar voices.

"Good morning, Tintin."

He turned around and saw the two identical lawmen and replied, "Thomson and Thompson, what're you doing here?"

The two men in matching black suits and bowler hats came up to him, each with the hand gripping their canes raised up towards their mouths as they shushed the young reporter and answered, "We are incognito."

"To be precise," Thompson added, "We are blending in with the street folk."

Thomson told Tintin, "We're here on an official assignment."

"Oh, another pickpocket?" Tintin asked.

"No," Thompson replied, and added in a hushed vice, "We are working in undercover security."

"Security?" Tintin repeated, and looked around, "Security for what?"

"To be precise, for _who_," Thompson said, "Our presence was requested to keep an eye on a visiting scientist and his family while they're staying in the country."

"It is of popular belief," Thomson added, "That they are at risk of being kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?" Tintin's eyebrows raised, "By who?"

"That's why we're blending in," Thompson answered, "We're to keep an eye out for anybody acting suspicious."

"I see," Tintin replied.

"Well, we must be off," the two detectives said, and gave a small gesture of farewell with their canes as they walked off and called back to their friend, "So long, Tintin."

"Goodbye, detectives," Tintin waved to them, "And good…"

The two detectives let out identically startled yelps as they unknowingly backed into a vendor and fell down and took most of his sales display with them.

"Luck," Tintin got his final word out.

* * *

"Gosh, Snowy," Tintin said as he and his dog continued to walk through the active streets, "Just think, we travel 3,000 miles to get away from it all, and there could be a kidnapping going on right under our noses."

Snowy sniffed and snorted and let out a small disapproving bark.

Tintin stopped walking and realized, "The newspaper, I forgot all about it." He took the paper from under his arm and unfolded it, "I wonder if there's something in here about that scientist."

And indeed there was, right on the first page, complete with a photo of Dr. Benton C. Quest, his 11-year-old son Jonny, their bodyguard, Roger "Race" Bannon, and Quest's adopted son, equally 11-years-old, Hadji from India.

"Well, they're certainly an interesting looking bunch," Tintin noted as he skimmed over the article. His overall mood seemed to change from indifferent to disappointed as he realized, "Every reporter in the country's going to be attending the doctor's lecture."

Snowy was able to pick up on what wasn't said, that with every reporter there vying to be the first one to send off their story, there wouldn't be much point in Tintin trying to get in on the action at the last minute.

Then something else occurred to Tintin, and he said to his dog with a trace of suspicion in his voice, "You know, Snowy, nothing against the Thompsons, but maybe they could use another person to help with security."

Snowy seemed to bark in agreement.

Tintin got the location where Dr. Quest would be that day from the newspaper and took off running, "Come on, Snowy."

Snowy followed behind him, barking excitedly.

The newspaper article had mentioned that Dr. Quest would be lecturing on the advances being made in space travel, something the entire world seemed to be in a race to be the first to perfect. No doubt it would be a very full lecture, and no doubt there would be some people in the midst of it all who weren't in favor of the doctor's findings and theories. That was always the case, if one side found out the other side was further ahead in making a discovery, they had to get rid of the other side and claim the findings as their own. Science certainly was a competitive field…but then again so was journalism.

Before Tintin even arrived on the scene where the lecture was being held, he knew something was wrong, he just couldn't tell what yet. He found out as he came upon the scene, the building being used for the doctor's lecture had its windows smashed and black smoke pouring out of them.

"Great snakes!" he exclaimed.

Too late, there had already been an attack. There were people all around, some of them had escaped from inside the burning building, others just looked like large parts of the day's crowd of passersby and tourists, a few police were in the mix trying to make sense of what was going on; but based on everyone's reactions coupled with the absence of four people in particular and he noted there was no rush made to send anybody back inside the building to bring anyone else out, Tintin could guess that the kidnap attempt had been made, and a success, and that Dr. Quest and his family were already gone.

"We're too late, Snowy," he said in despair, "Now what do we do?"

Snowy was barking frantically and grabbing Tintin's pant leg with his teeth, Tintin looked to see what his dog was so excited about and saw Snowy putting his nose to the ground, revealing large tire tracks heading away from the lecture hall.

"That must be how the kidnappers got out of here," Tintin said, and looked out as far as the eye could see, to follow where the tracks went, "We're going to follow them and see what we can find."


	2. Chapter 2

The air was unbelievably thick in the back of the truck they were traveling in. It was hot and stuffy and hard to breathe, it was also just about pitch black because there were no windows or lights, but none of this was of issue to Jonny Quest, as he had more important things to worry about.

"What do you think happened to Dad and Race?" he asked Hadji as they felt the truck speed along a rough and bumpy road.

Hadji was able to think a little more clear-headed on the matter, and he told Jonny, "They must've been put in the truck ahead of us. There _were_ two trucks, at _least_ two anyway."

"Why?" Jonny asked.

"Why what?" Hadji asked.

"Why didn't they just put us all in the same truck together?"

"Jonny, I ever tell you about the Black Hole of Calcutta?" Hadji asked.

"No."

"Good, you don't want to know about it."

"What's that got to do with this?"

"Maybe nothing," Hadji replied, deciding it was better than saying what he was really thinking, that with the truck already being so hard to breathe in, the four of them in the same truck, while not necessarily so enclosed, all the same could've used up all the available oxygen before the truck arrived at its destination.

"Well," Jonny came back to his original question, "Why _didn't_ they put us all together in the same truck?"

"Too easy to escape?" Hadji guessed.

"Escape how?" Jonny asked, "We already tried the doors, they're locked solid, we can't get them open."

"True but maybe four heads would be better than two."

A sharp yap of a bark interjected into the conversation.

"Sorry, Bandit," Hadji said, "Make that five heads instead of three."

"But where're they taking us?" Jonny wanted to know.

"I don't know," Hadji shrugged, and added, "And if we did know, I'm not sure we'd want to know."

"But we've got to get out of here," Jonny said.

"Don't tell me," Hadji jerked his thumb towards the direction of the front of the truck, "Tell him."

"Aw man," Jonny moped, "There's got to be _some_ way we can break out of here."

Hadji folded his arms and said, "Somehow I get the feeling that's the same thing Race and Dr. Quest are thinking."

* * *

"They must've put Jonny and Hadji in the truck behind us," Race told Benton Quest, "Makes sense if you think about it. One of us might be able to get the doors open and make a break for it, but we wouldn't be able to spring the door on the second truck without getting caught."

"And they know we'd never leave the boys behind," Benton replied with a sigh of defeat.

It seemed like an eternity ago now, but in reality it had only been about half an hour since they were still at the lecture hall and everything was _normal_, and then…

Even though there had been a large turnout for Dr. Quest's lecture on the advancements made in the ability to launch man into space and discovery the galactic unknown, there had _still_ been three seats up front so Race and the boys could sit in on the lecture. Even though much of it had gone clear over the boys' heads, they had wanted to be present for it, and Benton hadn't seen a problem with it, Race was right with them, what could possibly go wrong? Evidently far more than any of them could ever have figured on.

The initial attack was just a blur now. One second he was staring out at the faces of dozens of future scientist hopefuls who hoped when their time came, to put what they learned today to use to improve how science worked tomorrow, that they also might leave their own marks on the scientific world and the actual planet to boot. The next thing he remembered was the sound of glass breaking, and it sounded like every window in the building was being smashed. Before anybody had time to figure out what was going on, canisters had been launched, and they all fell victim to a released gas, that left them going in and out of consciousness, and made them _very_ susceptible to kidnapping. In between blackouts, Benton had been aware of black smoke rising, monstrous flames eating at the walls of the building, and being half dragged, half marched out of the building with a rifle to his back and he knew the same to be true for Race and the boys as well. Then they were split up and locked up in separate trucks, and that was how they came to be in the position they were now. He was never given a particularly ample opportunity to see who their attackers were, all he could say for certain was that he didn't recognize any of them by sight or assault tactics alone.

"Since we've got plenty of time to shoot the breeze, Doctor," Race cynically mentioned, "Maybe this would be a good time to point out these goons that grabbed us don't really seem like the competitive race-to-the-moon scientific types."

"No, I noticed that too when they ran us out of the building at gunpoint, after setting it on fire," Benton said with equally dry sarcasm.

"Well, what do you think, Doctor?" Race asked.

"I think you can guess, Race," Benton answered.

"All the threats made prior to us coming here were just a red herring, and our appearance in this place was a perfect opportunity for somebody _else_ to come in and snatch up you and Jonny."

"Yep," Benton nodded slowly, "The question is who?"

"Unfortunately, Doctor, there's no shortage of possible suspects there," Race told the doctor.

"I know. That's what's got me worried. We don't have any idea who's behind this, or even what we'll be going up against whenever these trucks stop," Benton said.

The interior of the truck was almost pitch dark, and it was just about impossible for the two men to see each other, but in the dark and the near silence, Race was able to pick up on sounds of labored breathing coming from the scientist, "You okay, Doctor?"

"I'm fine, Race," Dr. Quest replied, though the man from Intelligence One could almost _hear_ the doctor perspiring, "It's very hot in here…it's hard to breathe."

"I noticed," Race returned.

"I hope Jonny and Hadji are alright."

"I have a feeling they'll be fine for now," Race said, "The real question is _what_ happens when we finally stop?"

"I know," Benton responded, "And I think, Race, that I have a plan."

Turning to the sound of the scientist's voice, Race told him, "I'm all ears, Doctor."

"I know, I just hope one of those gunmen is all arms," Benton replied, "I don't know how much good it'll do us, but I think it's worth trying anyway."

"What is it, Doctor?" Race asked.

Instead of an answer, he just heard the doctor's breathing becoming more labored, and he repeated his previous statement, "It's very hot in here, Race," and added, "It's almost like…being sealed up in a tin can."

"That's _exactly_ what it's like, Doctor," Race noted, "And we're about to wind up straight in the frying pan, and from there…right into the fire."

* * *

An hour after the Quest family had been abducted, the trucks slowed down and came to a stop. Jonny and Hadji could feel the vibrations from the driver door opening, and the driver hopping out, and heard the muffled sounds of footsteps on the gravel road as somebody came around to the back of the truck to open it up. Jonny and Hadji instinctively moved towards the back of the truck, Jonny kept Bandit tight under his arm, and they waited to see what happened.

They heard the bolt being lifted on the doors, and they opened and a blinding light flashed in so they couldn't see. They were ordered out of the truck, and they obliged, and once outside in the slightly cooler environment that bore some resemblance to a desert, they saw the other truck also being opened, with first Race getting out, then Benton Quest, but something wasn't right.

Dr. Quest stepped out of the truck unsteadily, was sweating profusely, breathing hard and heavy and shallow all at the same time, and looked like he was about to collapse.

"Dad!" Jonny tried to get past the goon blocking him, to no avail though, "Dad! Are you alright?"

"You savages," Race growled at the gunmen, "If you were trying to kill him, you near well succeeded."

Benton loosened his collar and then his hand moved to his chest, still breathing hard and ragged, he opened his mouth to say something, but before any words came out, his knees buckled, and he fell against one of the gunmen, not with enough momentum to knock the man down, but enough spontaneity to complete take him by surprise, giving Dr. Quest a perfect opportunity to steal the gun from the man's side holster and hold it on him.

"Jonny, Hadji, RUN!" he ordered the boys.

"But Dad!" Jonny started to protest.

"Jonny, GO!" Dr. Quest told his son.

"Come on, Jonny," Hadji grabbed Jonny by the arm and pulled him away.

Two other men tried to chase after the boys but Benton aimed the gun at them and fired off two shots; purely warning shots and to run interference, they worked, but that was where the success of Dr. Quest's plan ran out. The two men found themselves surrounded by almost a dozen men and were very quickly and very forcefully moved out of the open and into an indoor environment that looked like a typical dungeon.

"YAAAH!"

The two men were rushed into a cell with such force, they both fell back and Benton fell flat on the middle of the stone floor and Race just about wound up standing on his head backed against the far cell wall.

"Well, it worked just like you'd figured it would, Doctor," Race said as he rolled forward and got to his feet, once their jailers were out of sight as well as earshot.

"Unfortunately it wasn't much," Benton replied as he sat up, "All we know for sure is that Jonny and Hadji got a good head start."

"Which is more than they would have if you hadn't faked a heart attack," Race told the doctor, "I'm sure the boys will manage to get away."

"I _hope_ so," Benton said, "It's bad enough _not_ knowing where they are, but right now I still think it's a better choice than having them here with us. Whoever these people are, it's _not_ the boys they want, and there's no telling what might happen to _them_ to get my cooperation. I don't know _who_'s behind this or why, but I have a feeling we're going to find out very soon."

"And so now we have to figure out two things for the time being," Race said, "One, what's going on, and two, how to get out of this cell, and preferably before those goons with guns come back for us." And with that, the man from Intelligence One went over to the cell door and started assessing the possibility that they could get it open from the inside. Upon inspection, the odds didn't look good, but Race was determined to find _some_ way to get them out of here so they could find Jonny and Hadji and get to the bottom of this.


	3. Chapter 3

Jonny and Hadji and Bandit ran for their lives through the desert sands with one of the gunmen not too far behind them. The sun was directly overhead and beating down hard on all of them, sweat running into both boys' eyes, but they knew they couldn't afford to slow down for anything. They had to lose the goon in the uniform behind them, and they had to come up with something to do it quick.

"Jonny, follow me!" Hadji called to the boy running two feet behind him.

They came to the top of a small hill and jumped over the edge and ran down to the bottom of it. By the time the soldier cleared the same amount of ground, he couldn't see the boys or the dog anywhere in sight, but he pressed on ahead, determined to find them. A few seconds after he had gone, Hadji emerged from a sand dune and stood up.

"That took care of him for now," he turned back towards the dune and looked around for Jonny, but didn't see him, "Jonny? Bandit?"

"Achoo!"

The sand sneezed, and a small portion of it cascaded down as Jonny emerged from the sand, with Bandit under his arm, each of them equally coated in sand and grime.

"Good trick, Hadji," Jonny said, "But now what do we do?"

"Good question."

"We've got to go back and help Dad and Race," Jonny told his adopted brother.

"I know, but how?" Hadji asked.

"…I'm not sure," he replied.

"Jonny," Hadji said, "Those men don't seem too interested in space travel to me."

"Me either," Jonny said, "I know Dad said every major country is in a race to be the first to put someone on the moon, but this is ridiculous."

"So what do they want with Dr. Quest and Race?" Hadji asked.

"I don't know," Jonny shook his head, "But we better figure out something and quick."

Behind them, they heard an engine roaring, they turned and saw two more soldiers coming after them in a jeep.

"Oh boy!" Jonny exclaimed, "Where's a flying carpet when you need one?"

"Another good question," Hadji said, "Come on!"

"How're we going to lose _these_ two?" Jonny asked as they took off running again.

"I don't know," Hadji confessed, "But if they're going to catch us again, let's not make it easy for them."

"No way!" Jonny agreed, and with that in mind, seemed to gain a second wind.

After running a short ways, they came to a sudden stop at a cliff on top of a hill, and they dropped down flat to the ground to look down and see what their options were.

"Jonny, look!" Hadji pointed down below.

"That's the city!" Jonny said in awe, recognizing the scenery down below despite it being a bird's eye view. "They didn't take us as far as we thought they had!"

"They probably went around in circles to throw us off," Hadji said.

"It sure worked," Jonny said.

They looked back and didn't see the jeep, but they knew those men wouldn't be far off.

"Hadji, you think that jeep can make it down this hill?" Jonny asked.

"No tire tracks," Hadji noted, "They must've gone a long way around."

"Then we'll take the shortcut," Jonny said as he inched himself over the edge, "Let's get sliding. Come on, Bandit!"

"Wahoo!" Hadji cried as he joined Jonny on the bumpy trek down the rocky hill and they skidded all the way down to the bottom.

"That was fun," Jonny said as he grabbed Bandit and resumed running.

"Yes, let's _not_ do it again," Hadji added as he took off right behind Jonny.

"I sure hope Dad and Race are holding up alright," Jonny said as they headed for the city.

* * *

"WHOA!" Race lost his footing and almost fell 12 feet straight to the hard stone floor, as it was he grabbed onto the bars of the cell door at the last second, and got his whole body banged against the wrought iron, but he held on so he was only hanging three feet off the ground.

"Race, are you alright?" Dr. Quest asked.

Race sucked in a hard breath after getting his ribs knocked against the door, but answered, "I'm fine, Doctor, just got a little _jolt_," and dropped down.

In the short time they'd been locked in this cell, Race had gone over every inch of it trying to figure any way they could break out. The door was out because nothing was going to make it or the bolt holding it in place budge. So then he started going around the cell looking for a loose stone somewhere that might open a hole in the wall, no such luck. So then he'd decided to try climbing the wall to see if there was anything higher up that would help them.

"There's a small ledge right over the top of the door," Race explained to Benton, "If we could get those gorillas down here for a minute, I might be able to get us out of here."

"Unfortunately," Dr. Quest replied, "I don't think we could get them down here after my little stunt when we got off the truck."

"Well they'll have to come down here and get us sometime," Race said, "There has to be _some_ reason they nabbed us. The question is what?"

"And who?" Dr. Quest added.

"And why?" Race asked, then thought of something, "I've got an idea, Dr. Quest."

"What is it?"

"Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone while we're here and find out _why_ they want us, _and_ how to escape."

"You lead, Race," Dr. Quest said.

Race grabbed the bars of the cell door and violently jerked it, as if he was trying to rip it off its hinges, causing a great ruckus emanating all throughout the dungeon, and he looked up as if he was trying to see the occupants on the floor above, and called up there, "Hey you heathen monkeys! Let us out of here! If you want a showdown you got one, but come down here and fight like men you _cowards_!"

He stopped rattling the door and the two men stood there and listened and heard a door above open, and then heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Three soldiers appeared at the door and gazed in at them, and the one in the middle appeared to be the leader of the pack. Now that they could get a better look at their captors, Race took a look at their uniforms and the way they all tended to move as one, and he turned up his nose.

"Look Doctor," Race said cynically, "The Third Reich rises again."

The guard in the middle leaned in towards the bars and said with a sneering accent, "You wish to speak to us, American?"

"No, I wish to get _out_ of here," Race answered as he folded his arms against his chest, "My meter's running and I'm due in Albuquerque at sundown."

"You are not funny, American," the guard told him.

"That's fine, your face will do in that regard," Race responded, "Now why are we here?"

The guard let Race's comments roll off his back and said with a sinister smirk on his face, "The doctor's presence was requested."

"Oh sorry," Race said, "His appointment book's all full up. Requested by _whom_?"

"You'll find out," he said ominously.

At the top of the stairs they heard a fourth man yell something down to the guards, but the sound bounced off the walls too much, coupled with an accent too thick for Benton and Race to decipher.

All the same the guards unlocked the door and escorted the two men out at gunpoint and marched them up the stairs. Race kept an eye on everything, where they were going, what was in every part of every room, if there were _any_ possible ways out of here that they could escape in a moment's notice. So far there didn't seem to be any, but he kept his eyes peeled for the first moment any one of these gorillas let their guard down. The two men were marched down a long corridor and brought to a door at the end, which looked like some military general's office. A man was seated at a desk at the far end of the room, and he looked somewhat pleased by their presence. A shifty looking man in a green military suit with badges and a sash, with black hair on top of his head and not much anywhere else, except for a full goatee, he wore a monocle over his left eye, and was enjoying a cigarette that the black holder for it was clamped between his teeth.

"Ah, Doctor Quest, do come in, please, have a seat," he said with an air of conceit about him.

As if they had a choice. Still feeling a gun in his back, Dr. Quest walked over and sat down across from the man.

"Who are you?" he wanted to know.

"My name is Colonel Sponsz," the man answered, "I have been eagerly awaiting your arrival."

"Too bad we couldn't say the same," Race offered dryly.

Colonel Sponsz looked at the doctor with indifference, but said to him, "I have acquainted myself with your work well, Doctor…high power lasers, rockets, missiles, high frequency beams, ray guns, all very impressive."

"I try," Benton dryly remarked.

"And it is to my knowledge you've loaned yourself out on assistance in many high profile investigations and expeditions: nerve gas, missing spacecrafts, discovering lost cities, rescuing missing scientists, uncovering lost treasure."

"This whole conversation's _lost_ me," Race spoke up.

"Dr. Quest, I am but a humble servant," Colonel Sponsz told him, though both men could detect a hint of a scoff in his remark, "It is my superior who has wished to bring you in for a conference, that you might assist him in his work."

"Who's your superior and what racket is _he_ in?" Race asked.

"You'll find out his identity in time, gentlemen," Colonel Sponsz said simply, "I don't see it in your ability to refuse, Dr. Quest, not if you care about those boys of yours. A great pity it would be if anything should happen to them because you failed to cooperate."

"Except I happen to know you don't have them," Benton moved in his chair and folded his arms against his chest, "They're not here."

"Two young boys out in the hot desert miles from civilization?" Colonel Sponsz asked, and laughed, "It's only a matter of time, Doctor, rest assure we _will_ find them, and when we _do_…"

Though Race stood to the side of the doctor, Benton could just _feel_ Race was sorely resisting the urge to jump over the desk and beat the colonel within an inch of his life, probably because he was doing the exact same thing right now. He liked to think that it was a bluff and that if they were going to do anything to Jonny and Hadji, it would've happened before the two had the chance to escape, but he just hoped they managed to get back to civilization and someplace safe.

* * *

Jonny and Hadji thought they had it made as they reentered the city limits, but that hope was quickly dashed when they saw two more soldiers running after them on foot. They managed to lose one by taking a sudden turn and causing him to crash into a fruit stand, but the second, much larger and meaner soldier, was still giving chase, and it looked like he would catch up soon. The two boys and their dog ran past hundreds of people in the streets doing business with the peddlers and vendors, and many saw the excitement but nobody knew what it was about, and nobody stepped in to help.

"Come on, Hadji!" Jonny called as they continued to run through the street.

"I'm coming, _he_ needs to be going," Hadji said, and turned so he was running backwards and prepared to try a bit of magic on the soldier and managed to get out, "Sim sim sala-" and was abruptly cut off as both he and Jonny were both grabbed by an unseen assailant and pulled around a corner.

The soldier hadn't noticed this and continued to run in the general direction the crowded street took him, figuring he would catch up with the brats in a minute. Once he was gone, Tintin looked around the corner and told the boys, "That should take care of him for a little bit."

"Who—who are you?" Jonny asked.

"You must be Jonny Quest and Hadji," he said, "My name is Tintin."

"Ah," Hadji said, "The reporter."

Tintin looked at the Indian boy curiously and said, "That's right."

Jonny looked to his friend and asked, "How'd you know that, Hadji?"

"Easy," Hadji said with a big knowing grin, "I know how to read the newspapers."

"Well I'm glad we cleared that up anyway," Tintin said.

"Are you one of the reporters from Dad's lecture?" Jonny asked.

"Not exactly," Tintin answered, "I was on my way to the hall when the attack happened…I tried to follow the path the getaway trucks had gone but after a while I lost the trail. I came back to see about renting a truck or a jeep so I could try finding you guys. How did you get away?"

"It wasn't easy," Hadji shook his head.

"And they've still got Dad and Race, we've _got_ to go back and save them," Jonny said.

"Can you show me the way you came?" Tintin asked.

The two boys looked at each other and looked worried.

"We took a shortcut," Jonny explained, "You'd never be able to get a jeep up there."

"Well, it's still something to start with," Tintin said, "We'll get a car or something and see what we can find."

Jonny looked at Hadji and asked, "What do you think, Hadji? You think we can trust him?"

"I think he tells the truth," Hadji said.

"A reporter? Tell the truth?" Jonny asked.

"If you don't believe me, ask Bandit," Hadji said.

Jonny looked and saw that his dog was getting acquainted with another white dog, and the two seemed to be getting along as they happily barked and yapped at each other in greeting.

"This is Snowy," Tintin introduced.

"Usually when somebody's bad news, Bandit tends to know it right away," Hadji reminded Jonny, "Even before we do."

"Well, I guess it'll be alright then," Jonny said, "Now let's go!"


	4. Chapter 4

"We'll have to see about getting a car," Tintin told the boys as they walked through the busy street, "If a truck could make the trip up the hill, so should we."

"And just hope that those goons don't come back and find us before we get there," Jonny added.

"Hmmm," Tintin stopped and thought of something, and he told Jonny and Hadji, "We might be able to get some help from Thomson and Thompson."

"Who's that?" Jonny asked.

"They're the detectives who were assigned the security detail to your father's lecture," Tintin explained as he started looking around for the two detectives.

"Lot of good that did us," Jonny commented.

Tintin looked around at the many faces in the crowd and scratched his head, "They _must_ be around here somewhere."

"What do they look like?" Hadji asked.

"Oh…you'll know them when you see them," Tintin said.

Snowy and Bandit ran between their owners' feet to keep up with them and barked at each other along the way. Then suddenly Snowy stopped and turned his head and growled.

"What is it, boy?" Tintin asked as he looked around.

"Maybe he smells trouble," Jonny said as he and Hadji looked around for any sign of the men who were after them.

"Maybe so," Hadji said and pointed off in one direction, "Look at those unusual men."

"That's Thomson and Thompson!" Tintin announced as he spotted the two detectives making their way through the busy crowds, "Maybe now we'll be able to get somewhere."

The two boys followed Tintin as he went to meet the two detectives.

"Thomson and Thompson," Tintin said, "Am I glad to see…"

"Just the man we were looking for," Thomson said.

"To be precise, we've been looking for you, Tintin," Thompson added.

"For me?" he asked.

"Yes," both men nodded their heads, then suddenly pointed accusing fingers at him and told him, "YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!"

"WHAT!?" Tintin couldn't believe his ears, "What charge?"

"Why kidnapping of course," Thomson told him.

"To be precise," Thompson added, "You are in possession of Dr. Quest's sons after he was attacked and kidnapped."

"Therefore we can draw the only logical conclusion," Thomson said, "That you arranged the attack on Dr. Quest and are holding his sons hostage," and he reached into his jacket pocket and took out a set of handcuffs.

"Oh no you don't!" Jonny said as he kicked Thomson in the leg.

"Yeouch!" Thomson exclaimed.

"Jonny, you need a matching set," Hadji said, and kicked Thompson in like.

"OUCH!" Thompson hopped on one foot, then regained his equilibrium and told Hadji, "I'll teach you to kick me!"

"No thanks, I already know how!" Hadji replied with a big, knowing grin, and to make his point, kicked the detective again, just as hard, in the other leg.

"Let's get out of here!" Jonny told Tintin.

Tintin didn't need to be told twice. He'd already been falsely accused and falsely arrested by Thomson and Thompson more times than he cared to remember, and he didn't have time for it now. The three of them, and their two dogs, took off running through the busy square, and _nobody_ seemed to notice, _only_ when the two bumbling detectives attempted to give chase and tripped and took down whole vendor stands with them.

"Jonny, look!" Hadji pointed to something up ahead. Jonny and Tintin looked and saw what it was.

"A jeep!" Tintin said.

And there was no one tending to it. The three of them hopped in and Tintin got it started and were just starting to pull out when a man came up and yelled at them, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

"Stealing your jeep!" Hadji answered nonchalantly.

"Yeah, we'll bring it back!" Jonny added.

Tintin reached into his pocket, took out a handful of bills and said, "Or we'll just buy it now," and tossed them at the man as he stepped on the accelerator and they tore out of there.

They went down a bumpy road that made the jeep rattle from side to side and Jonny and Hadji almost got thrown out the side, but they managed to catch themselves and hunker down in their seats.

"I don't get it," Jonny said to Tintin, "I thought you knew those guys."

"I do," Tintin answered, just as confused as they were.

"Then why'd they think _you_ kidnapped us?" Jonny asked.

"I don't know," Tintin replied, "Unless somebody framed me."

"But how?" Hadji asked.

"I don't know," Tintin answered helplessly, "But that's usually the way it happened before."

"Before?" the two boys asked.

"You mean they've tried to arrest you before?" Jonny asked.

"Oh yes, several times," Tintin answered simply.

"And you're still friends with them?" Jonny asked, totally lost.

"Thomson and Thompson mean well, but they sometimes have a tendency to get the facts mixed up, I'm afraid," Tintin explained to them.

"You know something, Jonny," Hadji said, "I just thought of something."

"Yeah, me too," Jonny said as he looked back, "If _those_ guys were our security, it's no _wonder_ we got kidnapped."

* * *

"Quite a character that Colonel Sponsz, wouldn't you say, Doctor?" Race asked once the two men were returned to their cell and locked in again.

"I wish I knew who this _superior_ of his he was referring to is," Dr. Quest replied as he leaned back against the bars and folded his arms against his chest.

"Nothing personal, Doctor, but I'm all for _not_ knowing, all I want to do is get out of here and find the boys and _then_ clean the colonel's clock," Race told him.

"I know," Benton said, "I was just thinking the _same_ thing."

"Well then," Race told him, "Seems to me the only thing left to do _is_ to get out of here."

"But how?" Dr. Quest asked his bodyguard.

Race looked back up to the ledge over the cell door and he told the doctor, "I have an idea."

"Race," Benton said to him, "I just thought of something," the scientist's face turned grim as he told his friend, "And I don't like it."

"I bet I can guess," Race remarked, "What if this Colonel Sponge is actually working for Dr. Zin and _that's_ why he had us captured?"

"Yep," Benton nodded his head.

Race nodded in like and told the doctor, "If that would turn out to be the case, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, and _blow_ it up. Right now we've got to get out of here." He looked back to the scientist and told him, "And I do believe, Doctor, it's going to require a bit of acting on your part."

"What did you have in mind, Race?" Benton asked.

* * *

Dr. Quest rattled the cell door and pounded on the bars, and yelled at the top of his lungs for all to hear throughout the building, "You _animals_! You _savages_! Bring him back!"

This had been going on for a few minutes and it looked like it was finally getting somebody's attention. Benton could hear a door opening at the top of the stairs and heard the guards coming down to see what the ruckus was all about. Two of the guards he'd seen earlier came to the cell door and demanded to know what was going on.

Benton pointed an accusing finger at them and told them like a man possessed, "You took him away! I don't know _what_ you did with him but you bring him back _right now_!"

It was _then_ that the two guards made the most disturbing discovery that there was only _one_ man in the cell. The white haired man in the red shirt and gray pants was _gone_! Confused, shocked, and panicked, one of the guards took out the keys and unlocked the door and threw it open and they went in to see what was going on.

Race Bannon waited until the two men had crossed over the threshold and he leapt off the narrow ledge over the door and took both of them to the ground with him. After a brief struggle, Race knocked their heads together and knocked them out.

"That was spectacular, Race," Benton told him.

"Aw that was nothing," he said lightly, "You should see me work without a net." He grabbed one of the guards by the arms and told Benton, "Let's get them to the far back so they're not immediately noticeable."

However, before they could carry that out to the fullest extent, they heard somebody calling from above, and heard someone else coming down the stairs.

"It must be the third guard," Benton told Race.

Race took a gun off one of the guards and told the doctor, "Let's get to the back, I've got another idea."

Benton took the other guard's gun and prepared himself for whatever might come next.

The back of the cell was not well lit, especially given the whole prison seemed to be underground. The two men crouched in the back with the unconscious guards, and they saw the third guard, younger than the other two, come to the door and called out to his fallen comrades. In the darkness, Race pinched his nose and said in a voice to match Sponsz's, "Get in here you imbecile!"

"Yes, sir!" the guard saluted, and entered the cell and looked around in the dark, "Colonel, is that you sir? What are you doing in here?"

Race held the gun high over his head and watched as the young guard inched his way closer to them.

"Don't ask me stupid questions, you fool," Race told him, "Don't you know you have your _orders_?"

"Yes, Colonel!" the guard saluted.

"Take off your helmet," Race ordered him.

Without a second thought, the guard complied, "Yes, Colonel."

Race whacked the man over the head with the gun and knocked him out. Then he relieved the man of his gun also and he told Benton, "Let's get out of here, Doctor."

The two men ran for the door and hurried up the stairs. By this time they were spotted by other guards and a chase ensued, but not before the scientist and bodyguard reached the front entrance and ran outside. Race turned back and fired a couple warning shots and told Benton, "We're almost home free, now, Dr. Quest, _come on_!"

They ran for one of the trucks and found the keys still in the ignition. Retaliatory shots came back at them, but missed, Race turned and fired again, and called to the doctor who was also returning fire to their captors, "Get in, Doctor, let's go!"

* * *

"This is ridiculous," Jonny said in despair, "We've been driving around in circles and we're not getting anywhere."

"Maybe we've been chasing a mirage," Hadji suggested as he looked at the sandy scenery passing them by that was all starting to look the same.

Bandit and Snowy stood up in the jeep and rested their short front legs on the side to look out at their surroundings, even they were beginning to seem as lost and confused as the boys were.

"We _must_ be getting closer," Tintin tried to assure the boys, "How far could this hilltop possibly be?"

From somewhere in the sandy midst, a shot rang out and just whirled past the driver side of the jeep.

"Great snakes!" Tintin exclaimed as he swerved the jeep and tried to see who had shot at him, and where they were coming from. Jonny climbed into the back and looked behind them, and his face turned grim, "Oh no! They found us!"

Following behind them in a similar jeep were the two soldiers they'd given the slip to earlier. How they'd finally found the boys again, Jonny and Hadji didn't know, but now they were gaining on them and while the driver chased them, the second soldier stood up on the other side and shot at them with a rifle.

Tintin swerved from side to side to try and make themselves a harder target to hit, but each time the bullets _just_ missed hitting him or the jeep. After another shot, he swerved too much to one side and he was thrown out of the jeep.

"WHOOOAAAAH!" he exclaimed as the jeep tilted to one side and he was flung out and hit the sandy road rolling.

"Tintin!" Jonny exclaimed as the jeep rebalanced itself and they were left without a driver.

"Jonny, do you know how to drive?" Hadji asked.

"No, do you?" Jonny asked him.

Hadji shook his head, "No, I was hoping _you_ knew."

"I guess we're going to find out then," Jonny said as the two of them climbed over into the front.

Snowy stood up against the back of the driver's seat and whined mournfully. Bandit likewise climbed up to see over into the front seat and he also sounded worried at their grim prospects.

Jonny took the wheel and Hadji got on the floor and pressed his hands on the gas and the brake while Jonny steered the jeep. The soldiers were still on their tail, and still firing at them, but they didn't take into account the fact that Jonny was not as tall as Tintin and could easily slide down in the driver's seat, especially since he had a co-pilot manning the pedals.

"More speed, Hadji!" Jonny told his adopted brother as he started to turn the wheel, "We gotta turn around and find Tintin."

Hadji pressed his hand hard against the accelerator.

"Whoa!" Jonny said as the jeep threw itself halfway around and about threw all of them out of it, Snowy and Bandit especially, "Not _that_ hard."

Snowy pushed away from the side of the jeep and dizzily grumbled as he tried to settle down in the seat again. Bandit also sounded like he was getting sea-sick from his owner's driving and collapsed in the backseat beside Snowy, stuck his pudgy little legs in all directions, and went to sleep, hoping when he woke up they'd find themselves standing still for a change.

"Hadji, hit the clutch, we need to back this thing up," Jonny said.

Hadji pressed the third pedal and was thrown back as the jeep lurched into reverse, Hadji crawled back and pressed the gas and they managed to back the jeep up _just_ in time for the soldiers to miss them entirely and continue straight on ahead before they realized what had happened. Jonny glanced to one side and told Hadji, "Hey, there's _another_ jeep heading our way."

"More soldiers?" Hadji asked.

Jonny's eyes widened, "No, it's those detectives again!"

Coming up behind them in another jeep were Thomson and Thompson, one was driving and the other was shakily holding onto his cane and bowler hat as they spend through the earthy terrain, trying to catch up with them.

"Now we've got two of them to lose," Jonny announced, "And we _still_ have to find Tintin."

"Well then," Hadji said as he reached for the clutch, "Forward ho!"

Jonny put it in gear and they sped forward again, giving chase to the two bumbling detectives, who were themselves about the fall out of either side of their vehicle during the entire drive. Their jeep just about collided with the soldiers' jeep when it turned around and zoomed back, they each swerved away from the other and tried to chase the jeep that was currently in the lead. Jonny turned the wheel and they went back in a long circle, and as they did, they saw Tintin running to catch up with it, and he jumped in on the side.

"Thanks for the lift," he told the boys, "Now if you don't mind, I think I'll take over the driving again."

Jonny scooted out of the driver's seat and Hadji climbed up from off the floor and he told Tintin, "Good idea, you watch the road, I'll handle the backseat driving."

"What's he talking about?" Tintin asked Jonny.

Hadji climbed into the backseat and watched the two jeeps chasing them and he decided a little magic was finally in order.

"Sim-sim-salabim!" he called and sent something flying straight for Thomson and Thompson's jeep, which in turn made them swerve to the wrong side and they crashed into the soldiers' jeep.

"Well that stalled all of them for now," Tintin said as he looked back at the wreck, "Now we have to figure out where we're going."

"And find Dad and Race!" Jonny added.

Bandit stood up in the backseat and barked in agreement.


End file.
